Heading to the Meseta - Day 15 (April 28)

During breakfast at the coffee shop next to our hotel I had another thought on the significance of my dream about elephant ears. It may have been a premonition about my haircut. You see I have one large or African elephant ear and one small or Asian elephant ear. Typically my hair is long enough that it is not noticeable but not any more - my African ear is definitely saying hello to anyone who might notice!

Having Coffee

Today we headed out of Burgos aimed toward the Meseta, a long stretch of the camino that is quite flat and goes primarily through crop and pasture land. Shortly before entering into the Meseta, we made a stop at Tarjados for a quick lunch where I had a delightful tapa consisting of olive, pickle, egg, tuna, all on a skewer with chopped peppers on top - yum!

People make this trip in a host of ways. Some carry huge packs, others chose to forward their backpacks ahead to their next stop so carry only a small pack. Some actually occasionally take a bus from one location to another, usually because of an injury of some sort so need a short break from the constant pounding on the feet and joints. Today we came upon the most unique we have seen thus far. A young girl was pulling her backpack on a luggage carrier rigged up and attached to her waist. She seemed to keep pace with us so it was evidently working quite well and saving the stress on her back.

Upon entering the Meseta, there was a tranquility that reigned, reminiscent of the Eastern part of North Dakota where I grew up. I think I am really going to enjoy this section of the journey. In fact, I had frequent thoughts of my parents, grandparents and brother, all who have departed. I can picture them shaking their heads at what some might call a folly to walk 500 miles but then talking to anyone who would listen about how neat it was that I was taking on this endeavor. The camino has a way of making you think about connections with not only loved ones but also the pilgrims who have walked this path before us.

Meseta

One really pleasant surprise today was just as we about to reach our destination of Hornillos, we came upon a young man and woman carrying a little girl in a backpack. We had heard earlier a story from our friends Steen and Inger about a young couple with a child who were eating a salad from greens they had picked along the path only to suffer a severe reaction and be taken to the hospital in Burgos. Having heard the story, we wondered if they were okay. It turns out, this was them! They had picked what they thought was carrot tops only to learn later was the leaves of a hemlock plant. It affected their central nervous system, effectively making them paralyzed so they spent three days in the hospital. Had they eaten much more or eaten the seeds, it could have been fatal! We were so relieved to learn that they were okay.

Camino Rocks

The municpal albergue in Hornillos where we chose to stay was quite austere and without WIFI. It also seemed to be without lights. For some reason, today really took a toll on me and I was chilled to the bone. I was also a little concerned that I might be coming down with a cold. I was anxious to have dinner, shower and go to bed.

We had a very nice peregrino meal with a gentleman from England and another from France. By 9:00 I was feeling so tired and cold that I crawled into my sleeping bag with my silk long johns, fleece shirt and blanket over my sleeping bag and immediately went to sleep.

Although I am taking many pictures each day, I am being very cognizant that this journey is not about photography but about the walk. My holster set-up has helped with that because it is very easy for me to slip my camera out of it's holder and take a quick picture before moving on. As a result, I have found that my settings may not always be ideal for the photo I am taking but again, the pictures are to document the journey not be the reason for the journey.

Lesson of the Day: Austerity is a part of life and to be accepted as much as abundance.

 

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Pruning Rosebushes - Day 14 (April 27)

Today was a day of rest, theorectically. It may have been rest from walking a path in boots and a backpack but we still spent most of the day walking around the city of Burgos.

Our first order of business was to get our clothes washed as virtually everything in our packs was dirty. Given directions to a laundromat by the concierge at the hotel had us on our way, map in hand. Evidently we are not capable of reading a map or following directions as we spent the next hour trying to find this establishment that was really only about 15 minutes away. Yikes!

We did however pass a sporting store where I purchased a pair of socks, another item on our to do list for the morning. Happy that we had our clothes where they needed to be and new socks on my feet, we headed back toward our hotel to find something to eat. We found a delighful little coffee shop right next to the hotel that had a wonderful breakfast torta with potatoes and ham. I spent some time there getting somewhat caught up on my blogs and then decided that I would take care of the next item on our housekeeping list - to get my hair cut as it had become quite unmanageable.

My haircut is what gave title to today's blog. First off, when I entered the peluquero a woman pleasantly greeted me. Although she did not speak English and I obviously do not speak Spanish as evidenced with my gafas/boligrafos error of an earlier day, I managed to communicate that I needed my hair "corto" shorter and thinned out. The thinned out message was accomplished through hand motions demonstrating the current bushy state of my hair

Things started out quite well with a wonderful massaging shampoo followed by vacuuming by some kind of device to remove the excess water. At that point a second woman came into the shop and she started to work on cutting my hair with quite a frenzy, I thought accomplishing what I had hoped for. That is when things turned. Suddenly a third woman came in, one who appeared to be the owner of the shop. She whipped out some hairstyle pictures for me to choose from and whisked away the lady who was working on my hair and so my fate was left in the hands of this new stylist.

That is when I began to feel like a rosebush being pruned. You see, every spring when I prune my rosebushes, I take a little off and then a little more and a little more until suddenly I think there is nothing left. Well.... that pretty much describes my hair - there is nothing left. Or at least nearly so. My hair has not been this short since I was 12 and had a pixie cut! Luckily, just as the rosebushes grow back, so too will my hair.

In addition, she must have thought my face needed some work because she also applied some lotion to it before she sent me on my way, having that embarrassed look of a recently sheared sheep. I am glad I have my trusty Tilley hat to make me feel like something is on my scalp!

Catedral de Santa Maria

After my shearing we headed to the Catedral de Santa Maria as we heard it was absolutely amazing. I really don't know how to describe this interesting church built in the gothic tradition. Although I took many pictures, they are inadequate representations of what we saw. The church was comprised of 21 chapels, each commissioned by different bishops and aristocracy of the time. The artistry expressed through paintings, carvings, stained glass was unbelievable. I cannot even begin to imagine what it would cost to replace the items that existed within this sanctuary. Despite the ostentatiousness of these chapels, I could still feel the intent to provide homage to the creator.

Just up the hill from the Cathedral was a castle so we made the climb up the hill to see it only to discover that it was only open on the weekend. It did give us a great view of the city below, however.

Chapel in Catedral

By now we were hungry so we went back to our hotel to ask for a recommendation for dinner. The concierge not only recommended Don Nuño but made a suggestion on what to order - the Cordero Lechal or milk-fed lamb. Angelo, the young man from Brazil, was sitting in the lobby so we invited him to join us. It was a wonderful meal and even better company as we conversed with Angelo.

Afterward we decided that we would check out the tapas bars again. Yes we seem to be bottomless pits from our days of walking. We were so excited to see our German lady camino friends. They had just arrived in Burgos that day so are running about a day behind us. We hope to see them at some point when we arrive in Santiago.

Before we left home I had a discussion with my sister about items we were bringing on the camino with the ultimate goal of trying to keep the weight of my pack to a minimum. She said that she didn't know if she could go without mascara. Well, I too feel quite naked without this doctoring of the lashes but I decided that it was something I was going to go without. This leads me to the reflection that on the camino all that superfluous stuff doesn't seem to matter. In the morning before we head out for the day, I just give my hair a quick combing, brush my teeth, rinse my face, put on my hat and away we go! I must say it is a little freeing and I have not missed having my mascara, except for a brief moment after my shearing today. There seems to be little focus on the trivialities of life on the camino.

 

Lesson for the day: Trivialities are just that - trivial.

 

 

 

 

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Rain Makes for Heavy Boots - Day 13 (April 26)

It is Fred's fault. He just said that he didn't think he needed to bring his rain pants because they were just added weight. So.... it rained all day!

Initially the rain added a dimension of variance to our journey but by the end of the day, it had become quite tedious. The wet clay on the path, in particular, added much weight to our boots and made walking somewhat slippery and treacherous at times.

Pasture on the Path

Still the first part of the day was quite nice with a walk through a pasture area. I kept looking for cows but only found evidence of their passing on the road. From there we stopped at a village for breakfast where we had fried eggs and bacon - the first since starting on the camino. Tasted wonderful and prepared us, at least in part, for what lie ahead.

And what lied ahead was a fairly steep climb up a hill over rocks, wet now from the rain. The rocks were also scattered about on the countryside making us think that sheep should be roaming there. Again, the evidence was there but no sheep to be seen. Reaching the top we were greeted by an iron cross with rocks surrounding the base. Along the side was tangled barbed wire fencing with boots, shoes and socks strewn about and signs indicating it was a military area.

Iron Cross

Just as we were starting to head down the hill (there is never an up without a down), there was an interesting multi-circular rock formation that seemed prehistoric in nature. And just around the corner, there they were - a flock of sheep complete with the proverbial black sheep and a shepherd with his sheep dogs keeping watch over them.

A short distance down the road, we stopped for lunch in Cardenuela where we met up with Adina again. She shared with us about how she had started the journey with two other women from Maine but she had gone on ahead as she didn't have as much time as they. As she stopped in churches along the way, she was lighting a candle for people she knew who were having struggles in their lives, giving what she felt was more purpose to her sojourn. Entering into Atapuerca, we learned it is a UNESCO World Heritage site as it is the site of the earliest human remains ever discovered in Europe dating back to 900,000 years ago!!

Misleading Arrows

From this point on, things started to go downhill and not in the literal sense. The clay road became more soaked with rain, our boots became heavier and our muscles became more tired. And the cuckoo birds continued to mock us. We had a short break from the mud when the path moved from dirt to highway but then we were contending with cars trying to run us over (not really). Shortly before Burgos we had a choice - to stay on the highway or take the "scenic" way into town. We made the wrong choice as the scenic way simply meant more wet clay and a not so scenic walk past the airport and through the industrial section of town. Our first disappointment in Brierley's guide.

In addition the walk into Burgos was very long and when we finally thought we were nearly there, a sign said it was two more kilometres! Plus our arrows that have so carefully lead us to our destination let us down as we reached a point where there were two arrows in one location, each pointing a different direction. Another mistake - we chose the wrong arrow as we learned later. We ended up not only going further but going through a questionable section of town. By now I was dehydrated (who would think that was possible with so much wet around us) and my leg muscles were getting cramps. We finally reached the hotel where we had decided to stay, the Norte Y Londres, not only feeling like pathetic peregrinos but looking like ones as well.

Tapas

The hot shower felt so very good and refreshed us enough to walk to the Cathedral and check out some plazas. We discovered Jean Sebastian talking with some other peregrinos and as we were heading back to our hotel to I heard my name being called. It was Julie from Montana and her parents Bill & Jean from Portland. We had last seen them in Zubiri, just the third day into our journey so were very pleasantly surprised to see them again. Julie was heading back home the next day but Bill and Jean are continuing on. Before we said our goodbyes, Julie showed us were to get tapas (pincots) which we thoroughly enjoyed before we called it a day. Burgos is a really neat city and we are eager to explore it more tomorrow.

Lesson for the Day: Don't leave your rain pants behind!

 

 

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Aqui y Ahora Vive el Camino - Day 12 (April 25)

We always seem to be the last to leave the albergue each day. One would think by this point in our journey we would be a bit more organized but no, not us. We shared breakfast with Soren knowing it would be unlikely that we would see him again as he was moving much faster than us. So fun to see all the different personalities on the camino.

Color Crayon Fields

Outside of Tosantos canola fields painted the hillside, like someone had taken a giant yellow crayon to it. The fields were not in squares but in arcing strips across the hill creating the coloring effect.

A common daily occurrence is the search for a bathroom. Typically this means finding a bar to purchase a refreshment of some sort so you feel justified in using their baño. Today we were beginning get desperate as there was significant distances between villages and even then many of the bars were not yet open for the day. This apparently was a concern shared by other peregrinos because I captured one relieving himself as I took a picture of the church he was near.

Again today we thought we would make it a short/rest day and planned to walk only about seven miles. But when we arrived before noon, we decided to walk the additional eight miles to San Juan de Ortega. This section of the path, devoid of villages, ran through a pine forest with wild heather blooming amongst the trees as well providing a colorful edge to the trail. This heather was quite different from that with which we are familiar as it was about four to six feet tall.

Knowing that we would be walking quite a distance without any place to obtain something to eat, we picked up some sandwiches, carrots and fruit to eat along the way. Many fellow pilgrims chose a spot at the top of a hill where a monument to victims of dictator Franco was placed alongside picnic tables. We chose instead to continue on and find a more "natural" spot to enjoy our lunch. We were glad we did because who did we come upon just finishing their lunch but Steen and Inger. They relinquished their spot to us and we bid them farewell. It was a difficult parting as we are not certain we will see them again. Unfortunately they did not have the time to go all the way to Santiago and would be heading back to Denmark in a few days.

Heather

It was here that I used what some might consider a questionable item, officially called Freshette but what I term a male device. It allows a woman to go to the bathroom like a man - very convenient, especially when there are peregrinos walking by all the time. And here it was especially nice as the woods were thick with blackberry bushes which would have been quite unpleasant without this creative device.

It is not infrequent that the locales set up stands with fruit, juice, water and such asking only a donation for what you take. There was such a stand along this path that was manned by a woman and her young daughter. It was here that they had a sign that provided the title for today's blog - Aqui y ahora vive el camino - Here and now, live the camino. Such a great reminder to live in the moment, in this case on the camino.

Although one tries to look around as we are walking, it can also be imperative to look down as it can keep you from becoming a casualty of the camino. In this case, in addition to safety, looking down provided some interesting views of nature. Now, I have seen many caterpillars in my time but not like these; they were connected end to end in a chain making their way across the road. I really wondered why they were traveling like that and if there was any lesson to be learned from their activity.

Caterpillar Chain

We arrived San Juan de Ortega at a much more reasonable time than we thought. The only albergue there, an old mission, was probably the most austere we have experienced thus far. After checking in and going through our routine of showering and getting organized for the next day (which obviously hasn't help us be any more efficient in the morning), we headed to the bar next door to try and get caught up on our journaling and blogging.

We had a very nice peregrino meal with Jean Robert and Ayala and also met some new people - Jim and Marilyn who are retired Air Force navigator and pilot respectively, Alina from Maine, Julie and Kasha from Poland. Jim provided us with a lesson in humility when he helped the hospitaleros clean up after dinner.

Although I spent quite some time working on my blog today, I am still quite behind. I hope to get caught up on our rest day that we will definitely take when we reach Burgos.

Here and Now

Lesson of the Day: Live in the moment!

 

 

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Trust Your Instincts - Day 11 (April 24)

It was shortly after sunrise that we left Ciruena with Vilamayor del Rio as our planned destination for the day, a 15 mile journey. As we were walking we noticed the contrails from several planes flying overhead. It made me think that we are much like the snail as compared to the flight of these giant mechanical birds in the sky.

Airplanes at Sunrise

We continue to pass by wheat, canola, peas and what we believe to be lentil fields as we walk toward Santo Domingo de la Calzada. It is here that a church houses a chicken coop related to a famous legend of the camino. It seems a pilgrim couple and their son stopped at an inn there on there way to Santiago. The inkeeper's daughter took a liking to the young man but he thwarted her advances which infuriated her so she hid a silver goblet in his backpack and then reported that he stole it. He was caught and sentenced to hang. The legend says that his parents were not aware of his fate until their return from Santiago when they found him hanging there, still alive thanks to the intervention of Santo Domingo. When they reported this to the sheriff, he said that their son could no more be alive than was the chicken he was about to eat. At this point the chicken stood up on the dish and crowed loudly. The sheriff rushed back to the gallows and cut the young lad down and gave him a full pardon.

With a legend like that, we had to check it out so paid our euros to go inside this museum/church. This was probably the greatest disappointment thus far. We found the church to be creepy and cold and could not get out of there fast enough, although I did manage a picture of the (a) chicken still housed there. We left behind the German ladies who had also decided to check out this legend.

The Legendary Chicken

Hungry, we stopped at a bar in Granon (small restaurants are called bars here) where we had some wonderful homemade gazpacho served in a tall glass, a great ham sandwich and jugo de naranja naturale. The orange juice here is absolutely fabulous as they make it fresh, using a machine that turns whole oranges into the fresh juice.

Today was actually the most tedious of our journey thus far as much of the path ran along the freeway where trucks and cars whizzed by at an astonishing rate, very similar to the U.S. As a result, I did not take many pictures today.

We did go from the Riojas region of Spain to Castilla y Leon which houses the Meseta, a long flat path that goes on for miles, theorectically providing a time for much reflection. I am actually really looking forward to this section. I have thought often about the conversion of Saul to Paul on the road to Damascus and have wondered if I will experience a conversion of my own along the Meseta.

As we continued on to our destination, we heard the sounds of a cuckoo bird. Made us wonder if they were placed there to tell us that we are indeed "cuckoo" to attempt walking all this way. Arriving at Vilamayor del Rio, we did not feel the right vibes to keep us there so we continued on the additonal three miles to Belorado (a total of 18 miles for the day) knowing there would be a reason for our decision. Walking up to our albergue of choice, Cuatro Cantones, it became apparent what that was - Ayala and Jean Robert were there to greet us!

We had the best peregrino meal of our journey thus far at this little albergue and better still, we enjoyed such delightful conversation with Jean Robert and Ayala.

Lesson of the Day: Trust your instincts - there is a reason for them!

 

 

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Connections - Day 10 (April 23)

So I think I figured out the elephant thing. Yesterday when we were walking up a hill into a village, there was a group of about five peregrinos all marching in step a significant length of the path. My thought is that I subliminally thought of us as the elephants on parade from the Disney movie, Dumbo. Strange, huh?

This morning we awoke once again to beautiful Gregorian chanting. Such a delightful way to be stirred from slumber and prepare us for the day ahead. Ventosa is in the wine region of Rioja so naturally we continued to walk past many vineyards and bodegas. The leaves were just beginning to appear on the grape vines signaling the new birth that spring brings and perhaps also a new birth for us as we continue on our pilgrimage to Santiago. This part of the path continued to display farmland as well as pastures. Loved walking past a sheep farm where there was a supposed guard dog keep the sheep safe. I don't think he felt the sheep were at much risk, however, because he had a completely bored look as we walked past.

We were pleased to run into Steeve at a rest stop and have him join us in our walk en route to Najera. We walked together for much of the day actually. He and Fred went ahead of me as I stopped to take pictures so I had some enjoyable time as I walked in solitude, letting my thoughts drift to the journey and what lies ahead.

Pilgrim Dome

Walking past a dome structure on a hill, being my curious self, I was drawn to look inside. To find drawings and messages from previous pilgrims inside was a reminder of all who have gone before us. For some reason I seem to be making some kind of connection with snails and when I discovered one on the road, Steeve promptly rescued from certain death by moving it to the side of the path. Will I be rescued in a similar way?

Pilgrim Messages

Reaching Najera, we stopped for a quick bite to eat and ran into Ann and Christine - so happy to see her and know that the other German ladies were not far behind. I was also pleased to get her email address in case we don't continue to connect on the path.

Although we have John Brierley's pilgrim guide to the camino, it would be entirely possible to walk from St. Jean Pied de Port all the way to Santiago based soley on the yellow arrows that mark the way through cities and countrysides. It was following these arrows in Najera that I thought about how nice it would be if we had such obvious signs to lead each of us on our personal journey in life. Maybe they are really there and we, or I at least, can't seem to find them. This is part of the camino, I believe.

In Azofra we ran into Steen and Inger enjoying a glass of wine so we joined them. We had such a wonderful discussion on how content we were at that moment and why some of us were not at a 10 when we had everything that we needed for that moment. It seems some of us think if we give a moment a 10, it doesn't leave room for something even better down the road. A shelter dog took a particular liking to Inger and decided he would join us on our journey and follow us nearly to the next village.

Break with Friends

As we continued on, a fellow pilgrim from Denmark handed Fred his phone and requested that he video him as he briskly walked by. Later we would find ourselves at the same albergue in Ciruena, the Virgen de Guadalupe, for the night. It was there that we learned his name, Soren, and his passion for a new hot chili he developed through cross pollination with the infamous "ghost chili". He shared with us at some length about this new chili - the Bhut Orange Copenhagen. We were excited that he gave us some seeds to grown our own as well as some crushed seeds to use in cooking and some candies that incorporated this unique chili.

Shortly before we arrived in Ciruena, however, we had to climb a very very long and steep hill. Exhausted, we rested at the top with many other pilgrims equally exhausted. We were pleased to find the albergue and continue with our routine of showering and washing clothes before it would be time for dinner. With a little extra time we took a short walk around this very small Spanish town taking pictures and running into the Spanish couple we had crossed paths with several times since St. Jean. Finally we learned their names - Pedro and Juani. Also, Angelo, the young man from Brazil who we met in Obanas was now traveling with them.

Only 576 To Go

Our albergue served a wonderful meal of pasta and chicken with red peppers. Wonderful company of Richard and Diane (from California), two gentlemen from France, Linda and Kaitlyn from Ashland Oregon and Ralph, a former sailor from England.

I know I talk frequently about the people we meet along the way but there is an unexplainable connection with these fellow pilgrims and I do not want to forget their names or the circumstances under which we met and/or reconnect on "The Way".

Lesson of the Day: There are arrows to define our journey in life, we just need to know how to find them.

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Pavement is Tougher Than Dirt - Day 9 (April 22)

Elephants in Africa have large ears and elephants in Asia have small ears. That is the thought I awoke to in the middle of the night. Crazy I know and don't ask me what that has to do with the Camino, I am sure nothing, but maybe I will be surprised to discover it somewhere along my journey,

The path out of Logrono felt quite long as it was about 5 miles on pavement. Pavement seems to really take a toll on the feet and joints as opposed to the gentleness of dirt paths. Makes me think that sometimes our attempts to make things easier can sometimes have negative effects as well.

I discovered something new today about my backpack. All along the path, I have struggled with getting my water bottle out of my backpack and have enlisted the help of Fred to provide me with this necessary nourishment. Lo and behold, I learned that I could retrieve it through an opening in the side of the netting that holds that bottle. All along I have tried numerous contortionist movements in an attempt to wriggle it from the top to absolutley no avail. Nine days into my journey and I am still learning such basic things!

Speaking of backpacks, I feel as though my backpack is becoming much like the shell that the snail so adeptly carries on his back. It feels as if it has become a part of me. I barely notice it's existence. When I shared this with Fred, he said his pack feels more like a tumor. Guess trying three different packs versus just grabbing one based on weight alone has it's merits!

Mural

As we have passed tunnels that take us under highways, there has always been grafiti to send messages of one sort or another. There was a particular tunnel today that had the neatest mural depicting people on the camino both my bike and on foot. Just a neat connection to the anonymous person who painted it, a sharing of the camino experience if you will.

As we walked above the freeway heading into the village of Navarette, there was a chain link fence presumably to protect any waywards from plunging to certain death. What was neat about it was that pilgrims had made crosses out of sticks they had found along the path and placed them into the links of the fence.

Also as we headed into Navarette, there were ruins of an old pilgrim hospital that was built in 1185. It was strange to think of people walking this same path nearly 1000 years ago.

Ornate Church

In Navarette, there was a chuch in the square that was open and beckoned us in. We are thankful that we did because it was the most ornate chuch we have seen along our way. As I have indicated previously, we have preferred the austere churches but beautiful music was playing and the lights were shining on the front of the church creating an almost mystical moment.

We also met some new people - Glen, originally from Canada but has lived the better part of his life in Thailand; Ann, a lady from Australia traveling by herself. We found these people to be fast friends. We all had dinner together and had such and amazing time conversing about a host of topics. We certainly hope our paths continue to cross as we press on to Santiago.We decided that we were not going to try to make it to Najera and opted instead to stop in Ventosa. We are so glad we did because we found the most beautiful albergue of our journey. Better than that, we reconnected with Steeve and Steen and Inger from our first stop in Orisson. We thought they had gone ahead of us so were very excited to see these fellow prilgrims and now, friends.

To Santiago

Lesson for the day: There can be surprises around every corner - and it is such delight when you come upon them.

 

 

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A Day in the Sun - Day 8 (April 21)

Today has been our most challenging thus far. Not physically, we actually walked 17.9 miles, but mentally. Most of the path was in the open with little protection from the sun so we grew weary of that. Plus we seem to have lost contact with many of the pilgrims we started with on our journey.

Virtually every village here has a cathedral, many quite magnificent. It made us wonder who commissioned them to be built. Was it the Roman church or the leader of Spain at the time? Something we will definitely have to research when we get home. Made me wish I had spent a little time on the history of Spain before our journey.

We stopped at a church in Torres Del Rios, Iglesia Del Santo Sepulcro, that was built in 12th century. It was a much more modest church than many of the others we have seen. We appreciated it's simplicity, seeming more akin with the spirit of the camino.

Withered Hands

There were not as many flowers in this section as we saw previously but we did stumble upon some very small dainty orchids. Don't know that I have ever seen orchids in the wild before so that was pretty cool. The scenery was mostly vineyards, olive groves and wheat fields. Little or no yellow canola fields that lit up the hillsides on previous days. Some of the vineyards had such old grape vines that had been pruned so low to the ground that they took on the appearance of old withered hands reaching up out of the earth.

It was on the way down from this hill that I nearly had a castastrophe. The shoelace on my right foot decided to attach itself to the top open loop on my left boot which was not terribly conducive to moving forward. Luckily my trusty trekking poles saved me from certain disaster, easing my fall to a gentle displacement to the ground. I have decided that trekking poles are a necessity on the camino. Not only did they rise to the occasion in this instance but they are continually helping me climb my way to the top of hills and bracing my declines from them. At the top of the one hill of the day, there were stone monuments created by the many pilgrims that had passed before us. They left behind what might be taken as bad habits they were trying to rid themselves of on the journey, a pack of cigarettes most notable.

Discarded Habits

We had quite a philosophical discussion today about evolution, one that was precipitated when we came upon a number of pill bugs on the road. Suddenly we were asking how these little guys that are also so prevalent in our part of the world are here. Did they walk from one location to the other (that would be quite the undertaking) or were they transported via dirt that was attached to some plants that were carried by some unsuspecting traveler. And where did they originate - there or here or someplace else entirely.

Our original plan was to end our day's travels in Viana but it was only 1:00 when we arrived there. Since we were still feeling physically strong, we decided we would walk the additional five miles to Logrono which made this the longest day of our journey thus far. And it means we have walked a total of 105 miles in eight days - not too bad for a couple of old people.

While we were washing clothes, a lady came up to us and asked if I was Jackie. She turned out to be Paula, a friend of my sister who lives in Battleground. Her and her husband Chris started the camino about the same time as us and we thought our paths might cross and so they did. There is just so much magic on the camino!

Logrono is known to have great tapas (pinchots) so we went on search for them. After wandering around, I decided to ask the next person I saw if they could speak English. Yes, all my efforts to learn Spanish have pretty much failed me. I actually told one lady that I couldn't read something because I wasn't wearing my boligrafos (pens) rather than my gafas (glasses). Anyway, a delightful young man who had been an exchange student for a year in Michigan helped not only direct our path, but gave us pointers on the correct etiquette of tapas bars.

There was a woman at the albergue with a terrible cold (or worse) which provided us with quite some concern as we were in the same bunk space as her. Paula and Chris shared our concern so we went in search of another room in the albergue with an open space and found one. So like thieves in the night, we moved all our things to this new space.

Buen Camino

Tomorrow, if we continue to follow the stages in our Bierley guide book, is another long day. We may decide we are not quite up to that. We will see.

Lesson for the day: Make sure your boot laces are tucked in. Not very philosophical, I know, but practical.

 

 

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A Day in the Countryside - Day 7 (April 20)

Today was a really good day. Our bodies seemed to have relented to the idea of daily extended walks carrying the extra weight of our backpacks. We are so pleased that thus far we have not experienced the pain of blisters as have so many sharing this path with us. We walked thirteen miles but they were easy ones through beautiful countryside of vineyards, canola fields, olive groves and wheat fields.

Just outside of Estella, at the top of a slight incline, we were rewarded with a stop at Fuente de Irache where we had a sampling of wine on tap that had been set up specifically for peregrinos on their journey. There was a group of fellow travelers who sang a short beautiful angelic song while we were there. A great start to our day's journey.

Fuente de Irache

Since we had only a croissant as we walked out of Estella, we were ready for something more about 3 miles into our travels. A stop in Torres del Rio provided that - a Tortilla Patata and coffee. Refreshed, we were ready for the miles ahead.

We were quite surprised to see farmers were using CD's for reflectors to keep birds away from their produce, something we had used for the grapes on our backyard. We thought we were being quite creative - I guess not!

We were pleased to find a church open - Iglesia Santa Maria. We liked this church because it was very simple. Not ornate like so many others. A caretaker welcomed us and stamped our credencias, a reminder of our visit there.

Walking along further who did we come upon relaxing next to a field, packs off, socks off, but Steen and Inga. Inga had some pretty sore toes so Fred gave her his extra pair of Injinji liner toe socks. Later down the trail, they passed us up - Inga doing a jig as she went by. Guess the socks gave her happy feet!

We were pleased to arrive at our destination by 2:30 in the afternoon. Our albergue offered laundry service which we very quickly agreed to. Much easier than hand washing and drying. Especially since we have only four clothespins. You know, to keep things light!!

Canola Fields

Refreshed by a shower, we were ready to head to a local bar for a glass of beer and some tapas to hold us over until dinner. It was nice to have an opportunity to catch up on our journaling and blogging. It seems after a day's walk we are either too tired or out of time to spend on these activities.

There are restaurants in each town along the Camino that have meals specifically for peregrinos. They are very similar - a choice of primary course, usually a salad or soup or pasta of some sort; a secundo course with choice of port, chicken, fish or beef with french fries; and a dessert. These are really inexpensive meals, typically 8-10 euros a person. And always wine.

After a week on our Camino experience, we are so in awe of all the journey has to offer. Time for reflection, beauty all around, bodies pushed to their limit, and relationships forged with total strangers all along the way. There is such an unbelievable community of spirit with fellow pilgrims. Sometimes, it makes me quite emotional.

Lost Boots

Outside of our decision to go on the Camino, the next best choice was to limit our first day to Orisson rather than go on to Roncesvalles. We feel so connected to the people we met there and carry them along the way, just as they do us. I can't wait to see what the path ahead holds for all of us.

Lesson for the day: Sometimes there are delightful surprises along life's path. You just need to make sure you don't miss them.

 

 

 

 

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Can We Make Estella? Day 6 (April 19)

When we arrived at our albergue last night, the bunk next to ours had a teddy bear laying on it which made us quite curious. Fortunately during our breakfast today our curiosity was satiated when we met its owner - a lady from Texas. She had recently lost her husband and daughter, both to cancer, and decided that she wanted to walk the Camino, probably as a way to help her heal. Her grandchildren had given her the teddy bear to take with on her journey. She had not really done any walking prior to this trip so she was walking quite slowly. It is our hope that we will see her at some point when we arrive in Santiago so we know she made it okay.

The Teddy Bear

I am not sure, but I believe there is some significance to snails on the camino, perhaps it is that they carry everything they own on their backs just as we are. This morning we came upon two of them making their way across the path ever so slowly. It reminded me that even if you move at a snails pace, as long as you are moving forward you will eventually reach your destination. Unless you gets squashed, as we discovered later.

Snails on the Camino

Today was a day of rescue for Fred. FIrst a shirt he left behind in our albergue was picked by a group of German ladies who have been on the path with us. They had stayed at our albergue the night before. As we walked by them in the first village on our path, one of them asked us to look at her pack. Lo and behold, what was there but Fred's shirt! They knew they would see us along the path so took it with them. It was a good thing too because he only has one other short sleeve shirt.

Later he was rescued by some other peregrinos when he left his trekking poles behind. This time it was a Spanish couple who had been leap-frogging for a few days. We heard someone yelling, hey peregrinos only to turn around and see him running toward us with Fred's poles. Fred decided that he does not want to live out of a backpack forever. For me, I find it rather freeing to have everything I really need on my back.

We passed some interesting historical scenery today. Part of our path took us on an old Roman bridge and road made of rocks. We are starting to get closer to the Riojas region so are beginning to see some vineyards and also some olive groves. Felt a little like I was on our farm as we passed wheat field

We passed through a little village, Villatuerta, where we came upon three little girls, one pushing a stroller with her baby doll. Reminded me that kids are the same wherever you go. The little girl pushing the stroller showed me up when I said "Ola" and she responded with "Hello"! Just past them, there was a group of children getting drinks from a fountain painted like a clown. They posed for me and then sent us on our way with "Buen Camino", probably the best version of this I have heard thus far!

Between Villatuerta and Estella, there was a very old church, Archangel Miguel, built in 1060 that we stopped to check out. It was very cool as previous peregrinos had left behind testaments of their passage - rocks and snail shells. It is so amazing to think about how many other people have traveled this ancient path. Sometimes it can be quite emotional.

Church Offerings

Our descent into Estella was past what appeared to be peasant farm territory. Horses were virtual lawn movers, tied up in an area to eat the grass in the ditches only to be moved, we assume, to a new area. Seems easier and certainly quieter than the proverbial lawn mowers we use.

Altough today was the easiest day for terrain, I think my body has begun to realize that we are not just on vacation and it is telling me it did not sign up for such an adventure. Aches, although certainly not serious, moved from feet to hips to knee to......

By our arrival in Estella we were ready to call it a day. Found the municipal albergue to obtain one of the last beds, much to our relief. We showered, washed clothes and as we were waiting for the machine to complete it's cycle, who did we see but our friends Jean Robert & Ayala, John Sebastian and Steen & Inga, all with whom we started our journey in Orisson. It is truly amazing how quickly one connects with people who travel along this path with us. Sharing bedrooms, bathrooms and essentially see each other in your underclothes, it has a unique way of breaking down barriers.

We went to dinner with Jean Robert and Ayala and then went back to get our clothes finished up and get ready for the 10:00 lights out. As I was getting ready to get into my bunk, someone grabbed my leg. It was none other than Inja. It seems we were bunkmates once again! A great way to end a wonderful day, in the company of Camino friends.

Lesson of the Day: Even though you might move slowly, as long as you keep moving forward, you will eventually make your destination. One step at at time.

 

 

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To Obano - Day 5 - April 18

The streets of old town Pamplona were bustling with people as we headed back to our aubergue at 9:00 last night. This morning there were only the street cleaners to witness our departure from this unique city. We couldn't even find an open panaderia to get a morning coffee and roll. So on we went to start our day, hoping we would come upon an eatery somewhere in our early travels.

As we departed the city, we walked past a park with beautifully planted flower beds - such a great collaboration of colors to bid us farewell.

It was three and a half miles and we were beginning to think we were going to be withered persons lying alongside the path from lack of food when we finally discovered a panaderia sign. By then we were so hungry we ordered two pastries and 5 medialunas (small glazed croissants) to go with our coffee.

Our purgatory, if you can call it that, of walking through the outskirts of Pamplona was well rewarded with the beautiful countryside outside of the city. The rolling hill landscape was frequented with yellow canola fields intermixed with green. The path had also gone from concrete to soothing dirt. It was here that we came upon Elaine, a fellow bunkmate in Zubiri. She shared her frustration with feeling the walk through Pamplona with all it's busyness was so contrary to the spirit of the Camino. We full-heartedly agreed with her and were pleased to be back on the path outside the city.

Canola Fields

Our journey today started with many adjustment stops. Adjustments to backpack straps and belts, adjustments to clothing, add rain gear and rain covers for a short burst of rain and most all-consuming, adjustments to my boots. I was still having problems with the top of my left boot rubbing against my ankle bone. I had brought some Dr. Schools heel inserts with a removable donut hole and thought perhaps just adding that would raise my foot up enough to prevent the rubbing. All that seemed to do was put added pressure on the balls of my feet. A brilliant idea came to me though - to remove the donut and insert the heel pad into my sock by my ankle providing a cushion from the boot. It worked!

I was very glad for that because the next section of the path was a rather arduous uphill climb over rocks, not quite to the level of those manuevered so adeptly by mountain goat, but close. At the top of the hill was a line of wind turbines. They were like giant sentinels welcoming us to victory at the top. Also there was an iron monument to the pilgrims of the Camino. We had seen pictures of this in some of the books we read so it was pretty cool to actually see it. We rewarded ourselves for our accomplishment by sharing a Leffe beer and a bag of M&M's. Yes, there was a road to the top and someone had conveniently set up a little stand with refreshments, including beer.

Pilgrim Monument

I must mention that we have seen at least one butterfly each day of our journey, well except for the windy one up the Pyrenees and no self respecting butterfly would have subjected themselves to such certain death by flying that day.

Of course going to the mountain top means you must go down so down we went, again over rocky terrain. Once down, we had a delightful walk to where we had decided to end our day's journey - Obano. Again we were walking past fields of canola and now also fields of peas.

One last climb to our albergue and we were pooped. But would you believe after a quick beer and some chips we were refreshed enough to walk another three miles round trip to visit a church, Iglesia Santa Maria de Eunate. It was an octagonal structure that was built in the 1100's and believed to be a refuge for pilgrims on the Camino.

Iglesia Santa Maria de Eunate

We arrived back to the village in time to attend a short prayer service at the chapel and join fellow pilgrims for a peregrino meal at the bar/restaurant. Wonderful food and even more wonderful conversation and campanionship with people from France, Germany, Brazil and Denmark. One gentleman was walking with his little daschund dog - crazy.

Lesson for the day: Sometimes things are better used for something other than for what they were created.

 

 

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On to Pamplona - Day 4 (April 17th)

Our morning started out at 6:30 and went reasonably well until Fred went to get his Credencia and could not find it in it's usual place. He emptied his backpack. I emptied my backpack. Nothing. I mean really, how many places could a little booklet go when your entire belongings are relegated to a backpack? I went to breakfast while he continued to search. Still nothing. One more time through his backpack before we headed out resigned to it's loss and the need to search for a Camino office to obtain a new one. Low and behold it was taking refuge in his journal!

Feeling much relieved, we headed out on today's journey to Pamplona. The beginning of our trail was through open fields followed by pavement through an industrial section. It was here that we spotted a sandwich laying on the road. Some poor pilgrim lost their lunch! It reminded us that we did not purchase a thing to eat along the way and although tempted to pick it up in case we found ourselves perishing, we thought better of it and left it behind.

Missing Their Lunch

A little later, we came a couple of pilgrims with a plastic bag containing one sandwich and another empty wrapper dangling from their backpack, the obvious victims of the lost sandwich. We told them about it so they wouldn't lose the second one. They were going to head back to retrieve it until we said it was too far back. This event provided the lesson of the day.

It had rained during the night and the path was wet so there were several slugs making their own camino across the trail. A couple of deceased ones, as well as a mouse, had rocks places around their remains, tributes from peregrinos who had passed before us. We reached a spot where the path had actually given way creating a fairly steep embankment. It was at this location we came upon a Danish couple who had started the Camino with us in Orisson. Unfortunately, he had fallen and the wife was taping his foot up. She had been asking him to go with her on the Camino for many years and he finally relented. She jokingly commented to us as we walked by that she was going to have to kill him if this kept him from finishing the journey! Shows the passion of people walking this ancient path.

Slug Memorial

Again there were flowers to greet us all along the way. I have made it a point to photograph each different flower I find - there have been many.
After about 5 miles, we were ready to get something to eat. Luckily there was a little restaurant just ahead in Zuriaian where I had a mushroom omelet and a banana. Fred had ham and cheese on a baguette. Revived, we continued on the 8.4 miles to Pamplona. In Arre, a town along the way, there were some unique trees planted on each side of the sidewalk - they actually joined together in the middle like lives melded together, forming an arch that lined our path through and out of town.

Melded Together

We were pretty tired from walking on cement through towns when suddenly we were in Pamplona. We tried to get into the alberque that our friends were going to stay at but it was full. The hospitalero checked and said they were not there and sent us on to the municipal alberque - Jesus and Maria. This alberque is a literally a row of bunk beds with dividers between every four bunks - three floors of them!

Checked in and who did we see - Ayala and Jean Robert!! They were headed out to get a SIM card for their phone and we were going to get something to eat. Unfortunately we did not connect up until much later and it was time to call it a day. Not sure we will make it as far as they are planning to go tomorrow. They have a more agressive plan to complete the Camino than we do so it is possible that we may not be continuing this journey hand in hand with them.

We had some wonderful tapas for an appetizer and then found a place for a hamburger and fries to share. Pamplona is a neat old city that comes to life after 8:00 at night. Just our style, if we weren't tired peregrinos anyway.

Back at our wonderful bunks, we decided to use the washing machines and dryers to wash our clother rather than by hand. Fred is actually off doing that as I am writing this. Tomorrow is another day of ascents and descents, although nothing like the first couple of days. Looking forward to what we will see!

Lesson for the day: When you lose something, sometimes it really isn't worth going back for it.

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